Tag Archives: Volcker Rule

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AFR in the News: Mnuchin Said to Start Review That Could Ease Volcker Rule’s Bite (Bloomberg)

“At a closed-door meeting in Washington on Monday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin directed five key agencies to re-examine what’s permitted under the Volcker Rule… Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform, said he’s dubious that Volcker is handcuffing lenders. ‘You’re talking about banks that are making tens of billions a year on trading activity,” said Stanley, whose group supports aggressive oversight of Wall Street. “It doesn’t seem to me that they’ve exited the markets.’”

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AFR in the News: Canada Just Threw a Grenade Into Elizabeth Warren’s Trade Fight With Obama (Huffington Post)

“‘The administration can say whatever it wants about its interpretation of these trade agreements,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform, a Wall Street watchdog group. ‘The problem is, under the terms of these agreements, they are not going to be interpreting them. Private tribunals of trade lawyers are going to be interpreting them, and there are going to be plenty of openings, as this shows, to make claims that critical prudential regulations conflict with trade agreements. And eventually one of those is going to win out.'”

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AFR in the News: Republicans and Wall Street Say To Hell With Protecting the Public! (Moyers & Co.)

“Since December, Congress has twice passed measures to weaken regulations in the Dodd-Frank financial law that are intended to reduce the risk of another financial meltdown. In the last election cycle, Wall Street banks and financial interests spent over $1.2 billion on lobbying and campaign contributions, according to Americans for Financial Reform. Their spending strategy appears to be working. Just this week, the House passed further legislation that would delay by two years some key provisions of Dodd-Frank. “[Banks] want to be able to do things their way, and that’s very dangerous.” MIT economist Simon Johnson tells Bill.

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AFR in the News: Banks Win More Time to Sell Private Equity Stakes (USA Today)

Americans for Financial Reform… called the Fed action disappointing and said it “raises serious questions about regulators’ intentions to properly enforce the Volcker Rule.” “Since proprietary trading can occur through the mechanism of external funds, the delay in divestment requirements for covered funds will greatly weaken the enforcement of other crucial parts of the Volcker Rule as well,” the organization said.

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AFR in the News: How Obama Can Rein in Wall Street Without Going Through Congress

“Wall Street’s relentless lobbying campaign pressured regulators to dial down some of the reforms, but the overhaul law still has a lot of strength,” Danielle Douglas writes in the July 3rd Washington Post. Her article goes on to quote AFR policy director Marcus Stanley: “The regulators have the statutory authority,” he says. “The question is whether they are going to use that authority.”